Method of operating gas-producers.



ns PATENT enrich.

HENRY LQ-nonnmir, or new YORK, n. Y.

"ainrnon or orana'irine eas-rnonncnns.

1,043,213. 1 p ifl fi f Letters a Patented Nov. 5, 1912.

' dpplic ation filed April 13, 1911. Serial No. 620.860.

To (i /[whom 'itmcy concern: chamber 1 terminates in the hopper 9. This Be it known that I,.Hni\'i2r L. Donnarr, a has a discharge opening, 10, through which citizen of the United States, and aresidentof the cinder passes into the screen 2. 'This, at New York city, in the county of New York first, is permitted to stand at rest. The 60 t5 and State of New York, have invented cercinder therefore builds up in 2 within its tain new and useful Improvements in angle of repose and thus stops the opening Methods Operating Gas-Producers, of It). After the cinder has been built up'to or which the following is a specification. above the gas cit-takes 5, kindling is intro- This invention relates to methods of opduced into- 1 through the opening and' 5 1C crating gas producers whereby the fuel bed ignited, air being admitted to 1 either by of a producer may be maintained comparaopening the olinkering passages 33 and 34 or 1 tively free from ashes, and open and easily by having an atmospheric connection on the permeable by the blast. I conduit 7, and admitting air through it, the In the accompanying drawings I have valve 7, flue 6, and off-takes The combusifi ehown a form of apparatus suitable for aptlon gases escape through the opening 30.

plying my invention. Fuel is now charged into the chamber 1 in Figure 1 is a diametral section through the same manner as the cinder was pret gas producer and the screening and elevlously charged, until a bed of ignited fuel I voting mechanism, While Fig. 2 is a section several feet thick has been built up, and the 20 at right angles to that of Fig. It through the producer is readyfor gas making.

fuehfeedin'g means. The openings 33 and 34 to the hopper 9 The construction and method of operate are closed and also any atmospheric connec- Jing the apparatus, shown, to carry out my tint; on 7. The opening 30 is likewise closed invention is asfollows: The columns 27s11pand Ynire 25 on opened. An exhaustler so port a-mantel, 21%, upon, which is built the or other dr .i't inducing means in connection refractory walls 29 of chamber 1. A metal with the conduit 7 is now started; or the shell, 26, envelops the lining Walls '29. blast may, instead, be suppliedtthrough 25 Pokeholes, 32, arranged around the periphunder pressure. The direction of the draft cry of chamber 1 provide means of access to throng 1 1 is thereby reversed-the flow now 30 l. Poke-helm. 31, in the dome of the chambeing from the top to the bottom of the her permit of the insertion of tools for the chamber. The air, in passing through the purpose of working thefuel bed and breakdeep mass of incandescent fuel, is converting up any arches-that'may form. ed into producer gas by the well known re- A bed of cinder free from fine ashes is actions, the gas produced passing through 'iirstcharged into chamber 1 to a level above the off-takes 5, flue 6, and. passage 7 to a the gas off-takes This cinder may either scrubber or direct to the place of consumpbe charged through the opening 30, at the tion as desired.

top of chamber 1 or, preferably, through the The cinder is now withdrawn through the fuel charging means 4:. By this, latter clinkering passage 34% until the live coals 49 method, the cinder is charged into the hopappear in the passage 10. 34 is now sealed 45 falls to the buckets ll of the elevator per 553 of eby opening the cover 40. The f and the screen? started. This has bearing slide ll-is next opened and the screw 42 set 0 isrS,4 h I' fla g d 8, 1 i1. operation. This moves the cinder through The screen is driven by-a pinion (not shown) the passage 15 to the chute 14, over which. it juneshing with the circular rack 8.

i As thc screen revolves, the ash and ignited This latter is simply an elevator of any I fuel resting in the large end of the screen i l l prrui-t-icahlo type and, as shown, consists are given a motion of progressionfthrough simply" of fun endless chains, carrying buckthe screen cone, the hue ash falling through els l1 wan-king over the drums or sprocket the periorations 1:3 into the ash hopper" 13,

50 whecis and The elevator shaft 17 While the over-screen portion discharges may either be built within the same shell as through the chute 16 into the boot of the the gas prwlucor or separately. Near the elevator 23. By 3. the over-screen portion, top of he shaft 1? a trip (not shown) is} which 15 principally made up of the ignited arranged which tips the buckets 11 so that 5 u raised to the top of chamber 1 and their contents distinct-go through the chutei discharged through the chute 18 onto the 18 into the clnunber i. The bottom of top of the fuel bed therein.

The ash falling into the ash hopper 13, is removed therefrom by the screw conveyer 20 working in the passage 19. The conveyor 20 discharges the ash through the opening 21 into th hopper 22. is closed at the bottom by the gate 3) amt at the top by the gate 24. \Vhen Q; is full the ash is discharged by closing the gate 4 and opening the gate iiu'the convert-r 20 first being stopped. The introduetimi of the gate 24- is for the purpose of cutting ott' comnumication between the atmosphere and the chamber l'through 1E?- and 10. while the gate 23 is open.

The screen 2 and elevator 2-3 are operated ctmtinuously. There is thus established a continuous movement of the fuel through the chamber 1. The rate of this movement is. of course. regulated by the speed of rotation of the screen :2. The elevator 3 is preferably run at a much higher relative Speed than the screen. so that the buckets of 3 are only partially filled by the hot fuel from 1. I aim to circulate the fuel at such a rate that the-proportion of ash 'in "the fuel entering the screen at any time. is comparatively small. The result is that l am able to keep the whole depth of the fuel bed in chamber 1 in a condition suitable for the development of the highest. etlieiency in gas making.

By the ordinary method of operating gas producers the fuel permitted to burn wholly to ash by the time that it reaches the bottom of the fuel bed. The result is that about. one-third of the fuel bed is practi cally useless for gas generation while the intermediate third has a low efficiency. It is usually only the upper portion of the fuel bed which is in a condition to develop its maximum efficiency in generating gas. To secure a reasonable make of gas therefore, itis necessary to carry the maximum depth of fuel bed that can be used vith the. blast pressure available. The limit of depth permis jble is of course thatwhieh will permit of a sufficient rate of flow at the working pressure. Since the fine ash residue from the fuel offers far more. resistan e to the. passage of the blast than doe the uncons umed fuel itself. it is obvious thit. by the ordinary method of working. the resistance offered to the passage of the blast for a given depth of live fuel must be nearly double What itis in my method. Thus for the same depth-of live fuel and the same blast pressure'I'am enabled to pass'about twice the volume of air and th refore secure about double the make of gas. Owing to the fact,

however, that by eliminating the tine ash:

and maintaining the fuel bed in a uniform condition of porosity I am enabled to work With'a much lower retardation of the blast than-in the usual method. T am able to carry a much greater depth of active fuel bed.

This makes it. possible to use a much higher velocity of, blast than can be used "with the customary depth of fuel bed. since by increasing the depth of fuel the time of contact between the draft current and fuel for any given velocity of draft is proportionally im-reased. The. .tmtl(( f gas per sq. ft. of grate surface by my method of operating can as a nse'tnem'e be ally more than doubled.

.\a important feature of the invention is the charging of the raw coal onto thesurface of the hot coals in the buckets ll. insures the heating and distillation of the coal before it is charged onto the fuel bed in I. There is thus never at anytime, a layer of cold inert fuel on top the fuel bed. The gases and vapors driven off from the coal in 1.7 ascend through the. latter and pass through the fuel chute 13 into chamber 1.. where they burn. This still further promotes the complete distillation of the. coal.

Having described my invention, what I.

1. The method of ope 'atzing a gas producer which comprises the step of continuously withdrawing ignited fuel from the bottom of the fuel bed of said gas producer and recharging the said fuel onto the surface of said fuel bed.

2. The method of operating a gas pro ducer which comprises witl'ulrawing ignited fuel from the bottom of the fuel bed of said gas producer. separating ashes from said ignited fuel amt-"recharging thesaid ignitedfuel onto the surface of said fuel bed.

3. The method of. operating a gas producer which comprises continuously withdrawing ignited fuel from the bottom of the fuel bed of said gas producer. separating ashes from said ignited fuel and recharging the said ignited fuel onto the surface of said fuel bed. I i

4.".l he method 'of operating a gas producer which comprises wit-lulrawing the partially burned ignited fuel from the bot:-' tom of the fuel bed of, said gas producer. separating ashes from said ignited fuel, charging a portion of fresh fuel onto the' surface of the said partially burnedbut nited fuel after the ashes have been sepa-- ated from the sam rand rechargingthe said partially burned but ignited fuel and said fresh fuel onto the surface of the fuel bed said gas producer. a

5. The method of operating a gas producer which comprises continuously withdrawing the partially burned but ignited fuel from the bottom of the fuel bed of said gas produ er. separating ashes from said ignited fuel, chargingaportion of fresh fuel onto the surface of the said ignited fuel after the ashes have been separated from the same, whereby the volatile constituents of said fresh fuel are distilled therefrom by This the heat of said ignited fuel, and continuously recharging the said ignited fuel and the coke from the said fresh fuel onto the surface of the-fuel bed in said gas producer.

6. The method-f operating a gas producer which consists in continuously withdrawing the partially-burned but ignited fuel from the bottom of the. fuel bed of said gas producer, separating ashes from said fuel, charging a portion of fresh fuel onto the surface of the said ignited fuel after ashes have been separated from the same, whereby the volatile constituents of said fresh fuel are distilled therefrom by the heat of said ignited fuel, continuously recharging the said ignited fuel and coke from the said fresh fuel onto the surface of the fuel bed in said gas producer, conducting the distilled volatile constituents of said fresh fuel into the fuel chamber of said gas producer and burning the said volatile constituents in contact with the surface of the fuel bed in said fuel chamber.

7. The method of operating a gas producer which consists in continuously withdrawing the partially-burned but ignited fuelfromthe bottom of the fuel bed of said gas producer, separatingthe ashes from said fuel, charging a portion of fresh fuel onto the surface of the said ignited fuel after ashes have been separated from the same, whereby the volatile constituents of said fresh fuel are distilled therefrom by the heat of said ignited fuel, continuously re charging the said ignited fuel and coke from the said fresh fuel onto the surface of the fuel bed in said gas producer, conducting the distilled volatile constituents of said fresh fuel into the fuel chamber of said gas producer and burning the said volatile constituents, introducing a' current of air into the upper part of said fuel chamber, passing the cominingled products of combustion of said volatile constituents and the said air through-the fuel bed and withdrawing the resultingproducer gas from the lower part of said fuel be'l.

8. The process of operating apparatus for the combustion of solid fuel, which comprises, moving said fuel in an ignited condisaid apparatus at a rate sufiicient to prevent accumulation of relatively fine ash therein, withdrawing ignited fuel from the lower part of said combustion chambenrejecting accompanying fine material, and returning said ignited fuel to the upper part of said combustion chamber.

Signed at New York city in the county of New York and State of New York this 12th day of April A. D. 1911.

HENRY L. DOHERTY.

Witnesses J. M. MOMILLIN, F. L. BLACKBURN.

tion through the combustion chamber of" 

